Breakfast at IHOP
by Gawdzilla
Summary: Julian Keller and Laura Kinney are as different as night and day yet they share two things in common: they can't stop thinking about the other and their love for pancakes. Watch as they two share a awkward but sweet moment at IHOP. Hellion/X-23


X-Men:

Breakfast at IHOP

_Summary: On the surface Julian Keller and Laura Kinney are complete opposites. One born to a wealthy family in Beverly Hills who was destined to work in the family business…the other a female clone of Weapon X born and raised to be an assassin by the organization that created her. But despite their differences they both share two things in common: they can't stop thinking about the other and…they love pancakes with maple syrup. But when Utopia runs out of pancake mix what will these two teenage mutants do to state their pancake hunger? _

The sun rose over the Island of Utopia and shined its warm rays upon the mutant sanctuary. As the sun beams shone through the window of the room belonging to one resident of Utopia, the digital radio alarm clock next the bedside flashed 6:30 and the radio clicked on to 107.7 The Bone. A grumble could be heard underneath the down comforter.

The cover was thrown aside and out emerged Julian Keller aka Hellion. Julian grumbled as he walked toward his bathroom and discarded his sleeping attire as he hopped into the shower. After 10 minutes of standing under the warm water, he got out and dried off. He quickly put on a pair of jeans, his red and black long sleeved shirt, a black and red vest and a pair of sneakers. He then made his way out of his room and headed over to Utopia's Mess Hall with one clear objective: a warm and sweet stack of pancakes with maple syrup.

When he arrived he walked up to the counter where found the X-Men's current cook and probationary member Deadpool whistling as he began cooking.

"Can I get some pancakes?" Julian asked.

"_Sorry Hellion Keller no can do. We're out of pancakes mix after the walking boulder, the surfer girl and their lizard friend raided the cupboards last night. _ _But since you like pancakes, do you Waffles? Do you like French Toast?" _he said with a smile underneath his mask.

Julian groaned and muttered, "I'm am sooo gunna blast Victor Alani and Santo across the island." He then head over to the cereal and bread bar and decided to make himself some toast.

But just as he was heading out of the Mess Hall a strong but firm feminine voice said, "Good Morning Julian."

Julian turned around and saw _**her**_ standing there. Her being Laura Kinney aka X-23, the girl who had been plaguing his dreams for months. She stood there dressed in pretty much the same outfit she wore when he first met her: black jeans, white shirt, jack jacket and choker.

"Uhh…hey there Laura…good morning to you too," He managed to say as he took a bite of his toast.

Laura sat down across from him and asked, "You seem down. Why is that?"

"Umm…well…to put it bluntly…I wanted some pancakes for breakfast but we're out of pancake mix," Julian said.

"Then why don't you simply fly to the mainland and have some?" she asked.

Julian blinked. Then he blinked again and thought to himself, "_Now why didn't I think of that?" _ He then finished his piece of toast and said, "Well to be honest I hadn't thought of it, but your right I should zip on over to the IHOP near Fisherman's Wharf and get myself some."

He then stood up and was about to leave but then he heard a grumbling noise. He turned around and looked at Laura and realized that her stomach had just growled. "Umm...well Laura…do you wanna come along…my treat?" he asked.

Laura then did something he had only seen her do once or twice: smile and said, "I would enjoy that."

Julian smiled too and said, "Well then what are we waiting for? Let's make like a tree and leaf."

Laura gave him and odd look and said, "Why would we want to be like trees?"

"It's an expression Laura, I'll explain on the way over," he said got up from the table. Laura nodded and then the two teens left the mess hall.

"_Mc Chris sure did get it right when he said "X-23 and Hellion, odd couple, to be kind" now didn't he," _Deadpool said to himself as soon as the teens were out of earshot.

******

We know find our two teens standing at a booth in the IHOP on Beach Street going over their menus deciding on what kind of pancakes they will be deciding to order.

"Hi my name is Mia and I'll be your waitress. Can I get you two anything to drink?" asked the waitress.

"Ah orange juice will be fine thanks," Julian said.

"I'll have one as well," Laura said.

"All right I'll be right back with those," Mia said in a cheery voice.

"You know you strike me more as a coffee person," Julian said as he inwardly debating on getting normal pancakes or apple cinnamon pancakes.

"Coffee is to bitter for my preferences," Laura said as she too was debating on what kind of pancakes to order.

"Ah right heighted senses gotcha," Julian said. "So haven't really seen much of you since the whole…church fiasco…what have you been up too?" he asked in an attempt to make conversation.

"Cyclops has kept me busy with missions since then," Laura said.

Julian sensed that Laura was holding something back, but despite his better nature he decided to change topics, "So how do you like it better out here on the West Coast as opposed to New York?"

There were a few moments of silence before Laura spoke again, "I really don't have an opinion but I do enjoy the climate out here than back in New York."

"Yeah I agree the climate is way better out here, but then again I'm biased since I was born in California," Julian said.

Mia came back with their orange juices and then asked, "Well are you two ready to order?"

"We are," Laura said. "I will have a stack of pancakes," he said and then turned to Julian and asked, "What about you Julian?"

"Same," Julian said as he handed Mia his menu.

"All right then, two stacks of pancakes. Your order will be up soon," she said.

"Thanks," Julian said. He then turned to Laura and said, "When I heard that you were missing after the whole Sapien League thing I was worried. I wanted to help out, but Summers said Logan had everything under control…I was kinda pissed but I was glad to see your alright."

Laura smiled softly and said, "Thank you for your concern."

"People like them… they're animals, and the next time I seen them…no mercy," Julian said as he closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

"Can we please talk about something else?" She said quickly.

"Uhh yeah sure," Julian said as he opened his eyes again with an understanding look. "Umm…is there anything specific you want to talk about?" he asked.

Laura paused to think but luckily for her Mia returned with their pancakes. "Here you two go," she said as she placed the pancakes in front of the two.

Laura watched as Julian began to dig in on his pancakes and she was relieved. She didn't want to lie to him, especially considering her feelings for him, but X-Force's existence must be kept secret. Plus no one would know what really happened after she came back from the future…especially Julian. If he learned of what had truly happened, he would no doubt would feel guilty about not killing Kimura when he had the chance.

Laura began to eat her pancakes but she subtly keep watching him. He'd cut his hair since the last time she had really seen him during the riots in Union Square, now it was about medium length. "_He's changed so much since then,"_ she thought to herself. She remembered the head strong teen that was adamant about her not killing their enemies during their mission to save Cessily from the Facility.

Julian then paused his eating and asked, "I know this gunna sound kinda weird…but that's a locket attached to your choker right?"

Laura nodded and said, "It is."

Julian nodded and said, "Thought so. Whose picture is in it?"

"It contains a picture of my mother and my cousin Megan," she said.

"Can I see?" he asked. Laura didn't respond and Julian said, "I promise I'll be careful with it."

Laura exhaled and then undid her choker and handed it to Julian. Julian then carefully opened it and looked at the pictures of Megan and Sarah Kinney. Julian looked up at Laura and then looked down at the picture of Sarah, the resemblance was uncanny.

"You know if I didn't already know that your Logan's clone…I'd say that you were a clone of your mom. You look just like her," Julian said as he handed back the locket and choker to Laura.

"_Why does my face feel warm?"_ Laura thought to herself as she took her choker back from Julian and placed it around her neck. "Thank you," She said.

"You know you've never told us you had family outside Logan…well then again you've never told us much to begin with," Julian said.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Laura said as the memories of Kimura's attack on Megan and Debra came to mind.

Julian saw the discomfort on her face and said, "It's fine…I've had my fair share of family problems as well." Laura raised an eyebrow and Julian said, "I was the youngest of two brothers. My older brother James was could do no wrong in my parents eyes…I took a lot effort to get them to stop working and pay attention to me. But I've stopped worrying about them ever since they disowned me because me and the others fought the Kingmaker."

"The Kingmaker?" Laura asked with mild interest.

"Some who runs a global network of favors; he grant's your greatest wish and in turn you help him grant other people's wishes….it seems before I was born my parents lived in poverty and they used the Kingmaker to get rich and they formed the family business: Keller International," Julian said somewhat bitterly.

"Your parents are William and Elizabeth Keller?" She said.

Now it was Julian's turn to raise an eyebrow and he asked, "How do you know them?"

"They were one of the principal financial backers for The Facility…," Laura said without thinking.

For Julian time seemed to stop. The idea that his parent's funded the monsters that created Laura and tortured Cessily…well it left a bitter taste in his mouth none the less.

Laura realized her mistake and attempted to salvage the conversation by saying, "They did however pull their funding about five years ago though."

Julian was silent and said bitterly, "It still doesn't excuse what they did."

Laura the firmly said, "No it doesn't. But their actions should not concern you; they cut ties with you…so their choices should have no affect on you."

Julian looked up and nodded. "They'll get theirs eventually," he said then took a bite out of his pancakes.

Laura in turn returned to her pancakes and began eating. But as she ate a certain memory resurfaced; a memory of a mission she sent on during her time at The Facility.

Several years ago The Facility sent her out on a rescue mission which needless to say was much different than what she was used too. Her objective was to rescue one of the sons of some of The Facility's backers. She went in and killed the kidnappers and rescued the boy much to his astonishment. "_So that boy was Julian," _she thought to herself.

The two continued eating in a comfortable yet awkward silence. When he was finished with his pancakes he said with a very satisfied face, "That was good."

Laura took a sip of her orange juice and said, "Indeed it was."

"Ya know…this was pretty fun. How about we make this a weekly thing?" Julian asked.

Laura smiled and said, "I…I would like that very much."

Julian smiled and said he raised his orange juice glass for a toast and said, "Here's to hopefully the first of many breakfast outings. Cheers." Laura followed suit and took a sip of her juice. The two finished their juice and pancakes and two headed to the cash register to pay for their breakfast.

"All right two stack of pancakes and two orange juices; that will be $15.20," Mia said from behind the register.

Julian reached into his pants and pulled out his wallet. He pulled out a twenty and gave it to her said, "Keep the rest as a tip."

"Thank you," Mia said with a smile.

Julian turned to Laura and said, "Well what now? Want to go for a walk or should we head back?"

"We should return as quickly as possible," Laura said. Julian nodded and the two headed to the door.

"Those two are cute together," Mia said out loud to herself.

"Who's cute together Mia," said a voice from behind the waitress. Mia turned to see one of her coworkers standing there. She looked to be about 18 and had short light brown hair and spoke with a hint of a Latin accent.

"Those two," she said as she pointed to Julian and Laura as they walked past the windows. The other waitress looked at the two and Mia noticed that something seemed off. Her face seemed neutral but her eyes said something else entirely. Mia raised an eyebrow and asked, "Something wrong Sofia?"

Sofia turned to Mia and put on a smile and said, "Nothing's wrong…nothing at all." She then walked off to check her tables. Mia shrugged and went back to work as well.

*******

Julian and Laura touched down back on Utopia. Julian was about to say something but a gruff voice said, "And where have you two been?"

Julian turned around and much to his dismay none other than Logan was standing there with a dangerous look on his face. Julian took a breath and said, "Laura and I went out for pancakes…is that a problem?"

"Going out for food's not a problem Keller…going off without telling anyone…now that's another matter. Especially when Cyke gave Me and Laura a mission," he said.

"Thank you for breakfast Julian," Laura said. She then turned to Logan and said, "Let's go." Logan nodded and the two headed off.

Julian watched the two walk off and with a smirk on his face shouted out, "Hey Laura!" He then watched Logan and Laura turn toward him. "How does same time next week for breakfast sound?" She nodded and the he said, "All right it's a date then." Julian then turned around and chuckled to himself as Logan glared at him while Laura smiled.

The End

This was just a little something I started a while ago starring my favorite X-Couple of X-23 and Hellion. The two had great chemistry in New X-Men and I was glad to see Chris Yost and Craig Kyle carry over X-23's infatuation with Hellion in X-Force. Here's hoping in Mike Carey's Hellion arc in X-Men Legacy this fall/winter we might get blessed with some development between those two. And for those who are wondering how the Hell do I know that Hellion survives Second Coming? I have Mike Carey as a friend on Facebook and he's confirmed that the second story arc after SC is a Hellion arc. And yes I threw a Wind Dancer Cameo in there for the Lolz. Also on the forums on CBR there is a poster named "Mia" that hates Hellion with a passion and despises the two being together. So to be funny I decided to name their waitress after her and Mia should you ever read this (though I doubt you will) don't be too mad.


End file.
